In Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Williams ended the skills portion of the evening’s events with the New York Islanders when he was credited with the deciding goal in the eighth round of competition.
“I was nervous the whole game, to be honest,” Williams said.
“I assumed I would be on the 10-to-12 sheet if we got going a little further, but [Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour] tapped me a little earlier than I thought. [Greiss is] a very patient goalie, so I figured I would try and shoot it five-hole.”
James Reimer made 26 saves in the win.
“I thought the first five or six minutes we were on our heels, and then I thought we settled down and we were fine for the rest of the game,” Isles head coach Barry Trotz said. “I didn’t have any problem. We had some chances, and their goaltender had some good saves. That was a [Stanley Cup] Playoff-style game.”
The Islanders are 1-3-2 in their last six games.
The Canes’ Andrei Svechnikov and the Isles’ Anders Lee exchanged regulation goals.
“The butterflies were going, but you settle yourself down,” Williams said. “I’ve played over 1,200 of these. I was like, ‘All right, Justin, get real here.’ It was fun. I think these first few games I’m going to go on adrenaline. Then hopefully my conditioning will take over and the game will be easier, and I will be on my way to being the player I know I can be.”
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Thomas Greiss made 31 saves in the loss.
“It’s a tough building to come in and take points out of,'” Lee said.”We did a lot of good things tonight. We’ll build off this, get better, and continue to improve on our game. I think it was a step forward.”
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